Department for Transport

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on reviewing the support to SMEs which have installed electric vehicle charging facilities but need to upgrade to more expensive rapid chargers to meet public preference and demand.

Jesse Norman: As part of the Government’s ambition to reduce emissions from road vehicles, Ministers in the Department have regular discussions with colleagues across Government. The Government recognises that a range of both rapid and slower chargepoints are needed in different locations to meet various charging needs and changing user behaviour. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles works with the Energy Savings Trust and has collaborated with them to prepare guidance specifically aimed at businesses and companies, including SMEs to assist them in choosing the most appropriate charging infrastructure for their fleets:http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/reports/6390%20EST%20A4%20Chargepoints%20guide_v10b.pdf

Department for Transport: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information he holds on the rate of remuneration for cleaners in his Department.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department for Transport does not directly employ cleaners. All cleaning staff are employed and managed under outsourced (PFI or Total Facilities Management) contracts; pay data in such situations is not held by the Department.

Shipping: Automation

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of autonomous technology in the maritime sector on the (a) training and (b) employment of UK seafarer (i) Ratings and (ii) Officers over the next decade.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: On 28 February the Secretary of State announced the UK’s ambition to be at the forefront of developments in maritime technology at an event that brought together representatives from across government and the maritime sector. Whilst it is too early in this programme of work to make an informed assessment of the impact of autonomous technology on seafarer employment and skills, the Government recognises the importance of training and employment as key elements of this work. Officials have already begun engagement with Unions, skills providers and other industry bodies and we will continue to engage them in this process.

Railways: Compensation

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure all passengers using Northern's delay repay scheme have their claims processed within at most 28 days.

Joseph Johnson: The steps the Department has taken with Northern to reduce claims processing time is to ensure the introduction by the operator of automatic delay repay compensation scheme. Details of the scheme can be found on Northern’s website https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/automatic-delay-repay. For passengers still utilising the delay repay form process, whilst the Department has no contractual mechanism regarding Delay Repay compensation processing time with the operator, the franchise management team actively monitors the level of delays and what the operator’s plans are for mitigating this delay.

Ports: Infrastructure

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will estimate the total cost of developing the UK’s major ports infrastructure over the next 10 years to accommodate (a) hybrid and (b) electrically powered commercial ships above 150 gross tonnage.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The UK’s major ports are commercially operated and it is for them to consider potential changes to their infrastructure and associated costs in response to developments in shipping.

Railways: Compensation

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will work with (a) Northern and (b) other rail operators to simplify delay repay schemes for passengers using multimodal transport tickets.

Joseph Johnson: The Government introduced the Delay Repay scheme whereby rail passengers are entitled to compensation if a delay to their train journey means that they are late in reaching their destination by 30 minutes or more. This applies to all ticket types. The practical arrangements for implementing this policy, including in relation to multi-modal products, are a matter for the train operating companies.Delay Repay should be paid on the rail element of multi-modal tickets.

Shipping: Irish Sea

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to shipping companies operating in the Irish Sea of compliance with Annex IV of the International Maritime Organisation Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships from 1 January 2020.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: No specific estimate of the impact of Annex IV on shipping companies operating in the Irish Sea from 1 January 2020 has been made. The UK implementation of Annex IV included an impact assessment which considered costs to the UK fleet. Annex IV of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships addresses sewage discharge from vessels and is universally applicable to internationally trading ships including those operating in the Irish Sea. The current Annex entered into force in 2008. No changes to the current regime are planned for 1 Jan 2020.

Shipping: Minimum Wage

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the application and enforcement of national minimum wage pay rates for seafarers working in the UK shipping industry.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I am expecting to receive a report of the National Minimum Wage working group and its recommendations shortly which I will consider. It is my intention to discuss the report with the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility.

Volkswagen

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence the Government has had with the German Government on steps against Volkswagen after its manipulation of data emissions.

Jesse Norman: It is for the German Government as the responsible authority in the first place to take legal action. Ministers have regularly raised this issue with their German counterparts. The Government will continue to press the new German administration to seek a successful outcome.

Exhaust Emissions: Misrepresentation

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals to make the manipulation of emissions data a criminal offence attracting (a) custodial sentences and (b) financial penalties.

Jesse Norman: The Government recently consulted on proposals to strengthen the penalties available for the use of prohibited defeat devices. The details of our proposals are set out in this consultation document -https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/road-vehicles-improving-air-quality-and-safety. We are now considering the responses to decide how to proceed.

Volkswagen

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 April 2017 to Question 71366, on Diesel Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions, whether the Government has provided any assistance to customers or their legal representatives in their bid for civil action against Volkswagen.

Jesse Norman: The Department continues to engage with the firms that are pursuing legal action against Volkswagen and has responded to their requests for information and assistance when appropriate. We will continue to monitor the progress of their action. The Department also responds to many requests for further information about the issue from members of the public and has met with a group of VW customers with affected vehicles.

Cars: Exhaust Emissions

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government has taken to (a) quantify the amount and (b) assess the effect of extra air pollution produced by cars affected by emission data manipulation in the United Kingdom.

Jesse Norman: We are unable to estimate accurately the air quality impacts resulting from Volkwagen’s actions as it is not possible to quantify the additional emissions of the affected vehicles under all conditions of operation. However the Department has made a comparison of the old software to the new ‘fix’ software under test track conditions. Results from tests of four Skoda vehicles (Roomster, Rapid, Superb and Octavia) indicate 25-40% lower NOx emissions with the new ‘fix’ software.

Volkswagen

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cars of what makes in the Government Car Service were affected by Volkswagen's manipulation of emissions data; what the cost was to the public purse of the purchased or hired cars in that service that were affected; and what the cost was to the public purse of rectifying the faulty devices on those cars and of hiring or buying replacement vehicles as a result of those faulty devices.

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cars of what makes in departmental fleets were affected by Volkswagen's manipulation of emissions data; what the cost was to the public purse of such fleet cars purchased or hired that were so affected; and what the cost was to the public purse of rectifying the faulty devices on those cars and of hiring or buying replacement vehicles as a result of those faulty devices.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government Car Service fleet has no VW vehicles and was unaffected. Information on departmental fleets across Government is not centrally held.

Aviation

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will list the (a) names and (b) ICAO identifiers of all current Civil Aviation Authority-licensed airfields in the UK.

Jesse Norman: 123 aerodromes in the United Kingdom currently have either an aerodrome certificate or license. These are set out in the table attached.



List of Licensed Aerodromes
(PDF Document, 75.61 KB)

Transport: Disability

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department are taking to ensure universal coverage of (a) audio and (b) visual assistance to (i) deaf or (ii) blind travellers.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Clear, accessible information can help people to feel more confident when travelling on public transport, particularly those who have visual or hearing impairments. In respect of buses, the Department plans to consult later this year on detailed proposals for the introduction of an accessible information requirement, mandating the provision of audible and visible route and “next stop” information on local bus services throughout Great Britain. In respect of trains, all new trains built since 1999 have had to meet mandatory accessibility standards, which include audio visual passenger information systems. Rail vehicles built before 1999 must have passenger information systems fitted by 31 December 2019. Any new or replacement station infrastructure must comply with current EU and UK accessibility standards. Failure to comply with these requirement can lead to enforcement action by the Office of Rail and Roads.

Railways: Concessions

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the decision was made to expand the 26-30 railcard trial to 10,000 extra participants.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people were attempting to obtain a 26 to 30 railcard when the website crashed on 13 March 2018.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance the Maritime and Coastguard Agency provides on the decommissioning of (a) semi-submersible drilling rigs and (b) other commercial vessels deployed in the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 19 March 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The trial of 10,000 26-30 railcards is an industry-led initiative to gather evidence and to inform discussions between Government and industry about roll-out of the railcard. Delivery of the trial launch, including sales of the railcard, was led by Rail Delivery Group and it was their digital systems that handled transactions and enquiries on the day.Decommissioning and disposal of semi-submersible drilling rigs and commercial vessels currently falls under the scope of legislation and guidance administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Government will be implementing Merchant Shipping legislation to introduce specific Ship Recycling Regulations later this year with the regime entering into force in December 2018. A Maritime and Coastguard Agency guidance package will accompany this legislation.

Joseph Johnson: The trial of 10,000 26-30 railcards is an industry-led initiative to gather evidence and to inform discussions between Government and industry about roll-out of the railcard. Delivery of the trial launch, including sales of the railcard, was led by Rail Delivery Group and it was their digital systems that handled transactions and enquiries on the day.Decommissioning and disposal of semi-submersible drilling rigs and commercial vessels currently falls under the scope of legislation and guidance administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Government will be implementing Merchant Shipping legislation to introduce specific Ship Recycling Regulations later this year with the regime entering into force in December 2018. A Maritime and Coastguard Agency guidance package will accompany this legislation.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Fracking: Wells

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2018 to Question 130433 and the Answer of 27 February 2018 to Question 128441, whether he plans to make a new estimate of the number of wells projected to be drilled by the shale gas industry in 2025 to replace the estimate which is considered to be out of date.

Claire Perry: The Government continues to monitor progress of the shale gas industry and will revise its estimates as appropriate as the industry develops.

Fracking: Employment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2018 to Question 130666, on Fracking: Employment what advice the Department for Energy and Climate Change (a) commissioned and (b) received from the engineering consultancy AMEC on the potential effect on employment from the future development of the shale gas industry; whether his Department has since commissioned any such estimate from an external consultancy; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has not commissioned a report from any external consultancy on the potential effect on employment from the future development of the shale gas industry.

Electricity Generation

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2018 to Question 128954, what assessment he has made of the effect of increased electricity interconnection on (a) net employment in and (b) GDP contribution from the electricity generating sector.

Claire Perry: New interconnectors create jobs and contribute to GDP in their construction and ongoing operation. However, we do not hold sufficiently disaggregated data on employment in and GDP contribution from the electricity sector to make a quantitative assessment of the impact of increased interconnection on these points.

Renewable Energy: Training

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing in England a Transition Training Fund for employees in the fossil fuel industry to move to the renewable energy sector.

Claire Perry: Government funding for training programmes falls within the remit of the Department for Education. Within the offshore oil and gas industry a number of initiatives are taking place to help diversify the workforce into other sectors of the economy including other energy sectors. For example, OPITO the offshore industry skills body is proposing to work with other energy sectors to identify barriers to the transferability of skills. The Government’s Oil and Gas Workforce Plan that was published in 2016 also established an oil and gas portal as part of the Talent Retention Solution platform, to facilitate the transition of skilled oil and gas workers who had lost their jobs in the downturn to other growing sectors of the economy.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Bangladesh: Elections

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in the Government of Bangladesh on the disqualification of the leader of the opposition from participation in parliamentary elections in that country.

Mark Field: On 8 February 2018, Khaleda Zia, the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was convicted of corruption charges relating to misappropriation of funds. She was sentenced to a five year prison term. It would not be appropriate for the Government to seek to interfere in the judicial processes of another country.I remain concerned about the political unrest in Bangladesh and the absence of dialogue among Bangladesh's political parties. The UK is committed to supporting democracy in Bangladesh. The Foreign Secretary met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Ali during his visit to Bangladesh from 9 to 10 February. In public and in private he stressed the importance of free and fair elections and affording political space to the opposition. The UK, together with international partners, will continue to encourage a peaceful way forward, and dialogue, between political parties in Bangladesh.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he holds on the rate of remuneration for cleaners in his Department.

Alistair Burt: Cleaning services to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) UK Estate, are provided by Interserve, as part of a facilities management contract. Interserve are responsible for setting rates of pay for their staff and have informed the FCO that they currently pay £9.75 per hour to staff for cleaning the FCO’s London buildings and the National Living Wage at an hourly rate of £7.50 out of London.

United Arab Emirates: Christianity

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Government of the United Arab Emirates on the persecution of Christians in that country.

Alistair Burt: Human rights, including the protection of freedom of religion or belief, is a UK foreign policy priority. As part of our bilateral relationship with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we discuss human rights at both ministerial and official levels. We note the positive steps the UAE has made in this area, including the establishment of the Ministry of Tolerance in 2016, with the objective of supporting religious tolerance and diversity. Promoting dialogue between different faiths was a key theme of the visit of HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to the UAE in 2016. This included a reception hosted at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque involving a discussion with leaders of the Christian faith in the UAE.

Iran: Visas

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in Iran on ensuring that visa applications from Iranian nationals to visit the UK are processed as quickly and fairly as possible.

Alistair Burt: ​In 2016 UK Visas & Immigration launched a full UK visa service at their Visa Application Centre in Tehran. We continue to work with the Government of Iran on all migration issues and the Foreign Secretary discussed these issues during his visit to Iran in December 2017.

Cabinet Office

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data the One Public Estate programme holds on local authority land released since 2015 which has been collected through applications to that programme.

Oliver Dowden: The One Public Estate programme partnered with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in late 2017 to support the delivery of the Land Release Fund. As part of the joint programme’s expanded pre-selection criteria, we request that local authorities provide information on land released since 2015, beyond that recorded through One Public Estate projects. Successful Land Release Fund bids were announced on 16 February. The new requirement will form part of future quarterly monitoring.The One Public Estate (OPE) programme currently holds data concerning land which has been released by local authorities in relation to One Public Estate projects. This allows the programme to quantify its contributions to releasing public sector land for new homes. This forms part of OPE’s core objectives to create economic growth and contribute to Government’s housing agenda. To provide as much available information as possible, the relevant programme data is set out below. Financial YearLand released for homes  (housing units)2014/157922015/16922016/175992017/18560Total2,043This data is collected quarterly from OPE partnerships as part of the monitoring and reporting requirements of the programme.

Regulatory Futures Review

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists was included in the Regulatory Futures Review, published by his Department in January 2017.

Chloe Smith: Paragraph 1.6 of the Review notes that the Review focussed on 31 regulators in detail. The Registrar was not one of those regulators.

Public Sector: Blockchain

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of using blockchain in the public sector.

Oliver Dowden: Government is researching potential use cases, and engaging with suppliers about the best use of blockchain technologies with a view of how it might drive efficiencies and support transformation. This research is led by individual departments in line with their specific needs.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on the use of payroll companies by strategic suppliers.

Oliver Dowden: The use of payroll companies is an internal matter for private sector suppliers. Such information is not held by Government.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, how many contracts his Department holds with government strategic suppliers.

Robert Buckland: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 01 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The Government Legal Department (GLD) holds contracts with eight Government strategic suppliers and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) hold six contracts each with Government strategic suppliers.The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) holds three contracts with Government strategic suppliers.HMCPSI holds two contracts with Government strategic suppliers; and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) holds one contracts with three suppliers.

Robert Buckland: The Government Legal Department (GLD) holds contracts with eight Government strategic suppliers and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) hold six contracts each with Government strategic suppliers.The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) holds three contracts with Government strategic suppliers.HMCPSI holds two contracts with Government strategic suppliers; and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) holds one contracts with three suppliers.

Attorney General: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 123531 on Attorney General: procurement, if he will list those contracts including the supplier name and value of those contracts.

Robert Buckland: Holding answer received on 06 March 2018



The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has the following contracts with the government’s strategic suppliers:  SupplierContractEstimated Value*  £BT PlcMultiple landline phones, alarms and broadband service agreements143,500CapitaContingent Labour ONE Call-Off136,900CGIPayroll Call-Off1,300,500 Finance and Resource Management System Call-Off200,000 Managed ICT Services contract; and300,000,000 Applications Support and Data Hosting Call-Off19,000,000MicrosoftMultiple licencing agreements.172,000OracleMultiple licencing agreements470,000VodafoneVideoconferencing service Call-Off700,000 * The Estimated Value is given as the value for the contract Term where the department has signed a Call-Off Contract and the annual spend to 31 January 2018 where the department has renewable licensing arrangements.   For the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the contracts are: Supplier2016/17BT plc£15,897Capita£704,697Vodafone£75,905 To identify overall contract values for the Government Legal Department (GLD), Attorney General Office (AGO) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) would require the identification and examination of all awards made to the Strategic Suppliers (as defined by the Crown Commercial Services) and this cannot be achieved without incurring disproportionate cost. However, our payments to Strategic Suppliers, for 2016-17 is set out below: Strategic Supplier Expenditure 2016-17 GLDExpenditure 2016-17 AGOExpenditure 2016-17 HMCPSIAmey £335,965 BT Plc£1,699£2,159£1,308Capgemini£88,914  Capita£424,655£847* Fujitsu£561,131  Microsoft£62,178  Mitie£186,854  Oracle£34,126  Vodafone£226,794£43,763£8,779 * The payment for this amount piggy backed on the contract that SFO had with Capita.

Department for International Development

Non-governmental Organisations

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure best ethical practice by the NGOs it supports.

Harriett Baldwin: It is imperative that DFID’s partners show the moral leadership, systems and culture that are needed to protect vulnerable people. At the Safeguarding Summit, the Secretary of State announced new, enhanced and specific safeguarding Due Diligence standards for all organisations that DFID works with. This will include a review of the ethical practice of the NGOs that DFID partner, by assessing codes of conduct, how organisations identify and respond to incidents, and how risk management places safeguarding and beneficiaries at its core. These are being piloted from this week and will be rolled out shortly. New funds to organisations will not be approved unless they pass the new standards and they will be integrated into ongoing programme management. Four working groups, that include civil society and independent experts, have also been established and are meeting this week to refine and test ideas further. They will take forward a number of areas, including how the aid sector can shift its organisational culture to tackle power imbalances and gender inequality. The groups will report back with concrete actions in time for the international Safeguarding Conference that the UK will host this autumn.

Non-governmental Organisations

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen its oversight of the NGOs it supports.

Harriett Baldwin: In response to the letter from the Secretary of State, all UK charities that directly receive UK aid have provided her with a clear statement of assurance on their organisations’ safeguarding environment and policies, organisational culture, transparency and their handling of allegations and incidents. These assurances are a first step towards improving DFID’s oversight of its partners and raising safeguarding standard across the international development sector. This oversight will be further strengthened through DFID’s new, enhanced and specific safeguarding standards, announced by the Secretary of State at the Safeguarding Summit. These new measures will build on the rigorous monitoring procedures which are currently applied throughout the lifetime of all DFID programmes. They will be integrated into DFID’s Due Diligence Assessments, Supply Partner Code of Conduct and ongoing programme management and compliance checking processes.

Military Aid

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what arrangements her Department has to reimburse the Ministry of Defence for resources used in disaster response.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development holds a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Defence through which we request and receive military support. The understanding states that we will reimburse the Ministry of Defence from the aid budget for the additional costs incurred in providing that support.

Department for Education

Wakefield City Academies Trust

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2017 to Question 116798, when he plans to publish the Education Funding Agency reports on Wakefield City Academy Trust; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: Once all of the academies currently part of Wakefield City Academies Trust are transferred to new trusts, a copy of the report of the multi-academy trust review carried out by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in 2016, will be placed in Libraries of both Houses.

Pupils: Health

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to require schools to make available online their medical conditions policies under the statutory guidance for children with medial conditions.

Nadhim Zahawi: All governing boards should ensure that the schools policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions is reviewed regularly and is readily accessible to parents and school staff. We keep the statutory guidance, ‘supporting pupils in schools with medical conditions’, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3, under review and plan to host a roundtable with the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance where issues such as this will be discussed.

Universities: Industrial Disputes

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to facilitate the resolution of the ongoing industrial action in response to changes to pensions.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is a private pension scheme, and government has no role in relation to the USS beyond regulation as applied to all work-based pension schemes by The Pensions Regulator. The government remains deeply concerned about the impact of industrial action called in response to proposed reforms to the USS. I have called on all parties to redouble their efforts to reach a constructive agreement, as this is the most appropriate route towards resolving the dispute. Our new regulator, the Office for Students, will have wide-ranging powers to ensure students’ interests are protected, and will be working closely with universities to avoid or minimise disruption to students caused by strike action. In the event that a student’s experience has been seriously affected, I expect universities to offer compensation.

Special Educational Needs

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of young people who have been identified as having special educational needs or disability were (a) eligible for free school meals and (b) included in the Children in Need census in each of the last 10 years.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, What the average proportion of children in mainstream education who were diagnosed with special educational needs or disability was in each year between 2010 and 2017.

Nadhim Zahawi: This information is in the public domain. We publish the number and proportion of pupils with special educational needs, including those who are also eligible for and claiming free school meals in England in the annual ‘Special educational needs in England’ statistical release which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen.We publish results from the Children in Need census in the annual ‘Characteristics of children in need’ statistical release which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need#characteristics-of-children-in-need.The number and proportion of children in need who have special educational needs are included in the Outcomes Tables, which were first published in 2012. We will publish the latest figures for 2017 on 28 March 2018.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 17 of the Early Years workforce strategy 2017, what steps he has taken to engage the childcare sector in exploring ways to target support where it is most needed.

Nadhim Zahawi: We are considering the feasibility of a range of approaches to supporting graduates in the early years workforce – including in disadvantaged areas. This work is still underway and we will engage stakeholders when appropriate to inform this work.

Pre-school Education: Labour Turnover

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the early years workforce working in group-based settings have (a) entered and (b) left the profession in each year since September 2013.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of level of staff turnover in each type of early years childcare setting; and what the level of turnover is by level of qualification.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers, England collects data on the early years workforce. The department does not hold data on those entering or leaving the profession. The Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers 2014 technical report (link below) provides the methodology used to calculate staff turnover on page 39: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/355085/SFR33_2014_Technical_Report.pdf. The data from the Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers 2016 is available on the UK data archive (link below). This is the most recent data that can be used to assess staff turnover in each type of provider the survey collects information from. The survey does not collect data that enables an assessment of turnover by level of qualification. All survey data is available to registered users of the UK Data Archive: https://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/?sn=8166&type=Data%20catalogue.

Child Minding: Qualifications

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of childminders hold (a) level 2, (b) level 3 and (c) level 4, 5, 6 childcare qualifications.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information is in the public domain. The Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers, England, 2016 includes the latest data on childminder qualifications in Table 10. It is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2016.

Enterprise Advisers

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of people working for the Enterprise Adviser Network who have previously worked in childcare settings.

Anne Milton: Enterprise Advisers are volunteers from businesses who are matched with schools and colleges to help them with their careers plan and to increase opportunities for young people to learn about the world of work. We do not collect information on the number of people participating in the Enterprise Adviser Network who are currently, or have previously, worked in childcare settings. However, 8% of the Enterprise Adviser volunteers are from the education sector. Since the launch of the Enterprise Adviser Network by The Careers & Enterprise Company in 2015, over 2,000 Enterprise Advisers have signed up to the network, and nearly 1,500 of these are already working with schools and colleges to support their careers and enterprise provision. Our careers strategy includes a commitment that by 2020, all secondary schools and colleges will have access to an Enterprise Adviser.

Pre-school Education: Recruitment

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many events have taken place in schools or colleges in (a) England and (b) each region with the Education and Employers Charity to promote opportunities in the early years sector referred to in the Early Years Workforce Strategy 2017.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally. This is a sector-led programme managed by the Education and Employers Charity through its online platform which matches schools and colleges with appropriate volunteers from the early years workforce: https://www.educationandemployers.org/schools/.

Pre-school Education: Apprentices

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding his Department has made available to the National Apprenticeship Service to raise awareness of early years apprenticeships as detailed in the Early years workforce Strategy 2017.

Nadhim Zahawi: We are working with the new Institute for Apprenticeships and the Trailblazer Group of employers to support the development of new early years apprenticeship standards. We have included apprenticeships in the new early years careers advice and pathways information that we are developing with stakeholders and DWP to raise awareness of the sector and the training opportunities, including apprenticeships, that are available.

Pre-school Education: Teachers

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 23 of the Early Years Workforce Strategy 2017, when the training needs analysis for early years tutors in FE settings took place; who conducted that analysis; and what the outcomes of that analysis have been.

Nadhim Zahawi: We asked the Education and Training Foundation, as the body whose purpose is to improve the quality of further education and training and to support workforce development, to conduct the analysis and to provide a report for ministers by the end of March. The report will be published in due course.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 25 of the Early Years Workforce Strategy 2017, who the members of the task and finish group on gender diversity in the childcare sector are; what progress that group has made on identifying the factors influencing the number of men employed in childcare roles; whether that group has suggested any solutions to increase the number of men employed in such roles; and if his Department will publish that group's report.

Nadhim Zahawi: The gender diversity task and finish group includes practitioners, training providers, unions, academics and employers. As set out in the Early Years Workforce Strategy, the group will report to the department on the factors influencing the number of men in childcare and present possible solutions to increase this number. This work is still underway and the group will report their findings to the department in due course.

Pre-school Education: Surveys

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the next childcare and early years providers survey.

Anne Milton: The next Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers will be published on 26 October 2018.

Pre-school Education: Staff

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 28 of the Early Years Workforce Strategy 2017, what progress has been made on establishing the early years panel to implement the skills plan and develop the childcare and early education occupational route.

Nadhim Zahawi: To deliver on our commitment to put employers at the heart of the technical education reforms, the department has convened T level panels made up of employers, professional bodies and providers with pertinent curriculum experience. They are responsible for developing the technical qualifications and the T level curriculum for each occupation listed on the applicable occupational map. The Education and Childcare T level panel has been established and is developing the outline content for each T level, based on the relevant standards.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been (a) made available and (b) to which organisations to support early years settings on (i) SEND, (ii) speech and language development and (iii) effective business management; and how many early years staff have taken part in continuing professional development in each of those areas since grants were made available.

Nadhim Zahawi: From January 2017 to March 2018 we awarded grant funding to the following organisations. On special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), we allocated £316,500 to NASEN to produce an online training package, tailored to meet the needs of a broad range of settings. We also awarded £275,030 to Pen Green to promote the model of specialist nursery schools to work directly with local early years settings in the private, voluntary and independent sector. On speech and language development, Home Start UK was allocated a grant of £403,880 to pilot the ‘word pedometer’ developed by the US based LENA research foundation to provide disadvantaged families with coaching from trained home visiting volunteers to increase the quantity and quality of language interaction with babies and children under the age of three. The Institute of Wellbeing was allocated a grant of £450,000 with a focus on raising awareness on the benefits of early education, home learning environment and 2YO programme. Activities include a targeted outreach for black and minority ethnic families unlikely to access statutory services, online-accredited CPD practitioner training to 'improve equality and inclusive practice and development of culturally tailored eLearning home learning environment parenting programme ‘Giving your child the right start’ to support speech, language and development. A consortium of four organisations led by the National Literacy Trust was allocated a grant of £429,998. This grant funding breaks down as follows: National Literacy Trust was allocated £153,330 to support disadvantaged children and families eligible for the two-year-old programme and strengthen the home learning environment with a programme called Early Words Together at Two. National Children’s Bureau was allocated £138,332 to support disadvantaged families to develop a positive home learning environment and to develop young children’s literacy skills using an adapted model of REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy). Peeple and Foundation Years Trust were allocated a total of £138,366 to support disadvantaged children to engage parents in their children’s learning in the home and add value to the two-year old programme using the Peep Learning Together programme. On effective business management, we allocated £268,544 to National Day Nurseries Association to develop a dedicated online resource to support nurseries to operate sustainably. We allocated £398,909 to Action for Children to continue their work on creating Childminder Agencies, and £385,975 to PACEY to support childminders to expand their businesses to provide sufficient, financially viable, high quality free early years education places for disadvantaged two-year-olds; and three and four-year-olds. We are unable to confirm the total number of early years staff taking part in continuing professional development.

Pre-school Education: Internet

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 31 of the Early Years Workforce Strategy 2017, how much funding and to whom the Government has allocated funding to develop an online portal that sets out career paths, brings effective online continuing professional development together and provides online training modules; when that portal was launched; and how many visits that portal has received in each month since it was launched.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department awarded a grant of £408,304 to the Pre School Learning Alliance (PSLA). One of several activities funded through this grant was the development of an on-line facility detailing training opportunities from providers across England and providing model plans outlining career progression routes. The website was formally launched on 7 December 2018 and can be accessed at: http://eyupskill.org.uk/. The website is maintained by PSLA and the department does not hold information on the number of website hits per month since the launch.

Department for Education: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information he holds on the rate of remuneration for cleaners in his Department.

Anne Milton: Cleaning services in buildings managed by the department are outsourced under a facilities management contract. Suppliers are responsible for setting rates of pay for their staff. The supplier has informed the department that it currently pays the London Living Wage to staff cleaning the department’s buildings in London and the Living Wage Foundation Living Wage to staff cleaning the department’s buildings that are not in London.

Pupils: Health

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department will take in 2018 to ensure that schools in England are (a) aware of and (b) comply with the statutory guidance on pupils with medical conditions at school.

Nadhim Zahawi: Last year the department promoted the statutory guidance on ‘supporting pupils with medical conditions in school’ through the department’s social media channels. This reached over 32,000 people. We keep the statutory guidance under review and plan to host a roundtable with the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance in May 2018 where issues such as awareness and compliance will be discussed.

Pupils: Nutrition

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to schools on the amount of time required to advise pupils on food and nutrition.

Nick Gibb: All schools are required to teach a balanced and broad curriculum that helps provide young people with knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society. The National Curriculum requires maintained schools to teach children about food, nutrition, healthy eating and how to cook a repertoire of dishes as part of design and technology. The science curriculum requires pupils to be taught about the principles of a healthy and varied diet and its impact on the way our bodies work. The national curriculum can be used as a benchmark for Free Schools and Academies. The Department does not prescribe how many hours schools should teach of any subject and believe that individual schools are best placed to decide this for themselves.

Pupils: Exercise

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has issued to schools on the amount of time to be allocated to physical activity for pupils.

Nadhim Zahawi: The UK chief medical officers’ recommend that all children and young people should engage in moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes every day. Schools play an important role in supporting children to achieve the physical activity recommendations. The Childhood Obesity Plan recommended that at least 30 minutes should be delivered in school every day through active break times, physical education (PE), extra-curricular clubs, active lessons, or other sport and physical activity events, with the remaining 30 minutes supported by parents and carers’ outside of school time. The government does not set a target for how much curriculum time schools must dedicate to PE or specify the sports and activities that must be taught in schools. However, all maintained schools must teach a full programme of study for PE for all their pupils.

Pupils: Mental Health

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to schools on the amount of time to be allocated to pupils for emotional well-being help and support.

Nick Gibb: Schools and colleges have an important role to play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. They are best placed to make decisions on the types of pastoral support their pupils need and the time allocated to it. Different pupils will need different amounts of support and the Government does not issue guidance on the time that should be allocated.The green paper, ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision’, set out proposals to provide significant further support to schools, supported by over £300 million of funding. This will include new clinically-supervised Mental Health Support Teams to provide evidence-based early intervention for mental health problems and better links to specialist NHS services.

Pupils: Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is provided by his Department to children who are absent from school as a result of diabetes.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department has published statutory guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions at school, including diabetes, which is clear that schools, local authorities, health professionals, commissioners and other support services should work together to ensure that children with medical conditions receive a full education. Local authorities should be ready to take responsibility for any child whose illness will prevent them from attending school for 15 school days or more, either in one absence or over the course of a school year, and where suitable education is not otherwise being arranged. I am hosting a roundtable with the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance in May 2018 where issues such as this will be discussed.

Class Sizes: Portsmouth South

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to reduce class sizes in secondary schools in Portsmouth South.

Nick Gibb: The average class size for state-funded secondary schools in Portsmouth is 21.5, which is in line with the national average of 20.8. It is up to secondary schools to decide on the organisation of classes based on local needs and circumstances, ensuring they are consistent with raising attainment and helping pupils to achieve their potential.

Autism

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Autism and education in England 2017, published by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism, if he will introduce a national autism and education strategy.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department is considering it’s response to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism’s report 'Autism and education in England 2017', as well as Dame Christine Lenehan’s review of residential special schools, ‘Good Intentions, Good Enough?’. The department will also consider the outcome of the Bercow ten-years-on review of the provision of speech, language and communication needs.

Construction: Training

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what date his Department plans to publish the application criteria for the construction skills fund announced in the Autumn Budget 2017.

Anne Milton: We plan that the construction skills fund will open for bids next month.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information he holds on the rate of remuneration for cleaners in his Department.

Rory Stewart: Cleaning services within the Ministry of Justice are typically undertaken by outsourced providers. Cleaners working within Ministry of Justice sites are therefore employed directly by these outsourced providers or their subcontractors and/or agencies.Rates of pay for cleaners are determined by their respective employers and not held by the Ministry of Justice. All employers are obliged to pay at least the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage.

Council Tax: Arrears

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much debt was outstanding in each case where people were sent to prison for council tax non-payment in each year between 2010 and 2017.

Lucy Frazer: Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service would only be able to provide the information requested at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Rossendales

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he make an assessment of the performance of Rossendales in the collection of council tax debts on behalf of West Lancashire Borough Council.

Rishi Sunak: The collection of council tax, and enforcement in relation to non-payment of council tax, is a matter for local authorities and the Department does not collect data on the performance of enforcement agents.

Council Tax: Tax Allowances

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in the availability of full council tax relief for working-age people on (a) household poverty and (b) child poverty.

Rishi Sunak: The Department has devolved the administration of local council tax support schemes to local authorities in order to enable them to best meet the needs of their local communities. Local authorities are required to consult local residents when designing their schemes and to take their views into account.

Local Government

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to local authorities on the timescale for responding to correspondence from hon. Members on constituency casework.

Rishi Sunak: How local authorities manage correspondence, from all sources, is a matter for local authorities.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on the rate of remuneration for cleaners in his Department.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Department does not directly employ cleaners. Cleaning services in buildings managed by the Department are provided under a facilities management contract. The current supplier pays the Living Wage Foundation Living Wage to staff cleaning the Department’s buildings that are not in London. Cleaning facilities to the Department’s headquarters based in 2 Marsham Street are provided under a contract managed by the Home Office.

Department for Work and Pensions

Work Capability Assessment: Motor Neurone Disease

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what work capability assessment exemptions exist for people diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Sarah Newton: Entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance is based on how a person’s health condition affects their functional capability to work. This means that we do not make exemptions from the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) process based solely on medical conditions. However I met representatives of the Motor Neurone Disease Association in February 2018, and listened to their concerns regarding the reassessment process. I have asked officials to look into the issues they raised. I have assured the Association that I will look carefully at how the reassessment process works for people with Motor Neurone Disease, and will consider change where this is possible.

Department for Work and Pensions: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information she holds on the rate of remuneration for cleaners in her Department.

Kit Malthouse: Since 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions has outsourced the provision and maintenance for the majority of its estate to Telereal Trillium under a 20 year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract that expires on 31 March 2018.Under the terms of the contract, Telereal Trillium provides fully-serviced accommodation, for which we pay an all-inclusive annual charge. Engie are Telereal Trillium’s cleaning service provider.The Engie base rate of pay for all cleaners within the M25 is £10.20 (London Living Wage).The Engie base rate of pay for all cleaners outside the M25 is £8.75 (National Living Wage).

Electronic Government

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 60 of his Department's paper Government Transformation Strategy, published in February 2017, what progress the Government has made on developing a platform for making payments out; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: DWP is committed to harnessing the potential of cross-government technologies. We’ve engaged with Government Digital Service (GDS) to explore opportunities around a shared payments platform. Our focus over the last 12 months has been to move DWP’s payments platform to a more modern, secure and efficient cloud hosting environment. Once achieved, we will work with GDS to progress development of a shared payments platform for government.

Department for Work and Pensions: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money her Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.

Kit Malthouse: The Department has not raised any money from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings since 2003. All assets, land and buildings were unfortunately sold under instruction from the Labour Government to Telereal Trillium as part of the PRIME PFI contract in 1998 and its extension in 2003.

Widowed Parents Allowance

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the changes made to the Widowed Parent's Allowance on the long-term financial security of widowed spouses.

Kit Malthouse: Current recipients of Widowed Parent’s Allowance will continue to receive that benefit for the natural lifetime of their award. There will be no change in payments of Widowed Parent’s Allowance to these claimants. Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) replaced Widowed Parent’s Allowance for those whose spouse or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2017. BSP is designed to provide targeted support to help with the immediate costs of bereavement without affecting access to financial help towards everyday living costs.It is for this reason that BSP is paid in addition to income related benefits, is not taxable and is not taken into account when calculating income for the benefit cap. These measures protect the financial security of the least well off families and ensure that they are not disadvantaged by the reform.

Home Office

Community Policing: Hounslow

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of community response police in Hounslow in each of the last five years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold centrally the information requested.The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), including the primary role that these officers perform, by police force area. Data are not available at the borough level.The latest data available on the number of police officers and PCSOs in the Metropolitan Police Service, and their primary role, as at 31 March 2017 can be found in the Tables F1 and F3 of the police workforce statistics published in July 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629865/police-workforce-tabs-jul17.odsData as at 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2016 can be found in the Tables F4 (for police officers) and Tables F3 and F6 (for PCSOs) of the police workforce statistics published in July 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/544954/police-workforce-tabs-jul16.odsPrevious data were collected under a different framework, with different definitions, and are therefore not directly comparable with data as at 31 March 2015 or 2016. Data have been published since 2012, and can be found in the supplementary data tables of the relevant police workforce publications via the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-walesOfficers and PCSOs with multiple responsibilities or designations are recorded under their primary function. The data do not therefore provide a complete picture of all officers assigned to neighbourhood policing functions.Some forces are not able to make a clear distinction between ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ roles and ‘Incident (Response) Management’ roles, therefore those forces record the majority of, or all, employees under just one function. A more reliable measure is the number of officers employed in ‘Local policing’ roles, which includes both neighbourhood and response functions.Any comparisons at force level should be made with care due to collaboration arrangements between forces for particular functions. Additionally, police functions data are often affected by re-structuring within police forces. Therefore comparisons over time for specific functions should be made with care.Decisions on the size and composition of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities.

Home Office: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money her Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.

Victoria Atkins: The information is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts. The value of disposals by asset class for the financial years requested can be obtained from Note 6 - Property, Plant and Equipment and Note 7 - Intangible Assets. The proceeds from disposal can be obtained from the Statement of Cash Flows on the pages listed below:FY2016/17 – page 100:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627853/ho_annual_report_and_accounts_2016_2017.pdfFY2015/16 - page 118:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539638/HO_AR_16_gov.pdfFY2014/15 – page 101:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441282/HO-AR15_web.pdfFY2013/14 – page 89:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321446/ARA_web_enabled_18_June.pdfFY2012/13 – page 100https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210660/Annual_Report_and_Accounts_FINAL_updated_logo.pdfFY2011/12 – page 106https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/143619/annual-report-2011-12.pdfFY2010/11 – page 95https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/120048/annual-report-201011.pdfFigures for 2017-18 will be available once the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts are audited by the National Audit Office, and laid before Parliament.

Fire and Rescue Services: Debts

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the level of debt has been for each fire authority in each of the last eight financial years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government publish data on local authority debt. This can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-local-government-finance#borrowing-and-investment

Asylum

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for asylum are awaiting a decision.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office publishes data on the number of asylum decisions pending a decision at the end of each quarter in table as_01_q (asylum, volume 1) of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017-data-tablesThe latest figures refer to the end of December 2017.Figures on the number of asylum applications pending a decision, as published in “Immigration Statistics, October to December”, have been revised following a discrepancy with the figure published in the Home Office transparency data. Further details can be found in the published tables.

Asylum

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of applications for asylum that are awaiting decision.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office has plans to reduce the number of outstanding undecided asylum claims. These include a staff retention strategy to ensure it retains its highly skilled asylum decision makers, further expansion of digital processes to increase caseworking flexibility and the creation of a new team in Bootle which has been specifically established to tackle the older cases in the asylum system. This team has been designed to establish and roll out best practise in the management of older cases.

Immigrants: Detainees

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were detained at immigration centres at the end of each financial quarter in 2017.

Caroline Nokes: Information on the people in detention, as at the end of each quarter in 2017 is available in table dt_11_q of the detention tables.The latest data, published in ‘Immigration Statistics, October to December 2017’, are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/681703/detention-oct-dec-2017-tables.ods

Visas: Russia

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of tier one visas were granted to Russian nationals between 2010 and 2015.

Caroline Nokes: Information on grants of Tier 1 entry clearance visas, by nationality, is published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics, Visas data tables volume 2, table vi_06_q_w, latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/list-of-tables#visas.

Psychiatry: Migrant Workers

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 visa applications sponsored by the NHS for NHS child and adolescent psychiatrists were turned down in the most recent year for which data is available.

Caroline Nokes: The information you have requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.Information on the total number of Tier 2 refusals can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/list-of-tables#visas

Asylum: Health Services

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 132251 on Asylum: Health Services, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Department of Heath and Social Care on the provision of health care for asylum seekers who will be housed in the proposed interim accommodation centre in Halton.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office and its Providers are in regular contact with other government departments and local authorities, including the Department of Health and Social Care, to ensure there are arrangements in place to provide services to asylum seekers that are supported by the Home Office.

Offences against Children: Telford

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with Telford and Wrekin Council on commissioning an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in that borough.

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will commission an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is committed to uncovering whether victims of child sexual abuse have been failed in the past. That is why we set up the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, to expose what has gone wrong and learn lessons for the future. The Inquiry has already announced that it is investigating institutional responses to child sexual exploitation by organised networks.Officials from Telford and Wrekin Council wrote to the Home Office on 13 March 2018, requesting that the Government commission a separate inquiry into events in Telford. Home Office officials have, in subsequent discussions with Council officials, made clear that events in Telford are within the terms of reference set for the Independent Inquiry. It is for the Independent Inquiry to decide how it goes about its investigations. It is for the Council to decide if it wishes to commission a separate inquiry locally.

Acids: Sales

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of the sale of concentrated hydrochloric acid online.

Victoria Atkins: Hydrochloric acid is a reportable substance under Part 4 of Schedule 1A to the Poisons Act 1972 (as amended by the Deregulation Act 2015). This means that retailers are required to report any suspicious transactions, significant losses and thefts to the national contact point.The Home Office uses a range of methods to measure the effectiveness of these controls, including monitoring numbers of suspicious activity reports, and the number that lead to further investigation. Comparing this information with the information available before the controls were in place indicates that the controls have made it easier for authorities to detect attempts to purchase high risk chemicals for illicit purposes.The substances controlled by the Poisons Act 1972 and the means of evaluating efficacy are continuously reviewed and updated to manage the current threat.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre: Mobile Phones

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the quality of mobile phone coverage at Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre.

Caroline Nokes: Flooding at the site of a mobile telephone mast close to Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre earlier this month has resulted in intermittent mobile telephone signals affecting three mobile phone network providers. Repairs are underway and normal mobile phone coverage is expected to resume shortly.In the meantime, arrangements are in place at the centre to ensure that any detainee whose mobile phone service is affected can continue to make landline telephone calls and access other means of communication.Detention Services Order 08/2012 sets out the Home Office’s policy on detainees’ possession of mobile phones in immigration removal centres. Detainees are able to retain their own mobile phones throughout their detention, provided their handset has no recording facility and/or access to the internet. Where a detainee’s handset does not comply with these restrictions they are provided with a suitable handset by the immigration removal centre supplier so that they may maintain contact with friends, family and other means of support.

Members: Correspondence

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Glasgow North dated 30 October 2017 on his constituent's border force inquiry.

Caroline Nokes: The hon. Member’s letter of 30 October 2017 was received and a response will be issued as soon as possible.

Asylum

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on the implementation of the asylum and resettlement strategy; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: We continue to engage with key stakeholders, including NGOs, International Organisations and local authorities on the UK’s approach to asylum and resettlement, including the approach to family reunion for refugees.The Government has committed to rebalancing the system to focus more resource on the most vulnerable refugees through our aid programmes and resettlement whilst ensuring the in country system provides protection for those in need but also ensures those with no lawful basis to stay in the UK are returned. Our policies and approach must reflect the capacity and resources of Government and local authorities.

Refugees: Families

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to amend the rules on refugee family reunion to include the extended definition of family in the Dublin III Regulation.

Caroline Nokes: The UK Immigration Rules have a comprehensive framework for refugees and their families to be safely reunited in the UK. Our family reunion policy allows immediate family members of those granted protection here to reunite with them. The Immigration Rules also provide for relatives with protection in the UK to sponsor children in serious and compelling circumstances. The Mandate resettlement scheme also allows those recognised by the UNCHR as refugees to join close family members here in the UK.In addition, there is provision in the policy to grant visas outside the Rules in exceptional circumstances, which caters for extended family members who otherwise do not qualify under the Rules.We do not believe there are unnecessary barriers to family reunion for refugees. Over the last five years there have been 24,700 family reunion visas issued –and this is in addition to the numbers granted asylum here or resettled here under our resettlement schemes.We are listening carefully to concerns raised on this issue by Non-Governmental Organisations and others. We are currently reviewing our approach to family reunion as part of the Government’s wider asylum and resettlement policy strategy. We will be following the passage of the Family Reunion Family Member’s Bill closely and will continue our productive discussions in this area.

Department of Health and Social Care

Rare Diseases: Drugs

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will assess the potential merits of introducing a separate assessment process for rare disease medicines that do not meet the criteria set out by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence for their Highly Specialised Technology route.

Steve Brine: The Department has no plans to establish a new assessment process for the evaluation of rare disease treatments. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops guidance on most new drugs through its technology appraisal programme, and has been able to recommend a number of drugs for rare diseases for routine use on the National Health Service. There is an established topic selection process for the technology appraisal and highly specialised technology evaluation programme that includes a public consultation and is designed to ensure that treatments are only referred for assessment by NICE where its guidance will add value. NICE periodically reviews its methods and processes to ensure that they remain fit for purpose for the NHS in England.

Drugs: Research

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the effect of making efficiencies in the cost of medicines on research investment by the pharmaceutical industry.

Steve Brine: Independent research has found that the primary drivers of research investment decisions by the pharmaceutical industry are supply side factors such as the skills and science base of the country in question. The price the National Health Service pays for medicines has been found to have a much less significant impact on company investment decisions.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to amend the list of long-term and orphan diseases which qualify for free prescriptions; and when he last consulted (a) patients, (b) doctors and (c) those in the (i) pharmaceutical and (ii) health industries on that subject.

Steve Brine: We have no current plans to amend the list of long-term and orphan diseases which qualify for free prescriptions. The last consultation on this issue was as part of Professor Sir Ian Gilmore’s review in 2008, which included consultation with patients, the public and general practitioners.

Primary Care Support England

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Key Performance Indicators (KPI) apply to the patients registration area of work carried out by Primary Care Support England (PCSE); how often PCSE reported against those KPIs; which targets were reached and how many complaints were received on those targets in each of the last three years.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  which Key Performance Indicators (KPI) apply to the medical records area of work carried out by Primary Care Support England (PCSE); how often PCSE reported against those KPIs; which targets were reached and how many complaints were received on those targets in each of the last three years.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  which Key Performance Indicators (KPI) apply to the local performers list area of work carried out by Primary Care Support England (PCSE); how often PCSE reported against those KPIs; which targets were reached and how many complaints were received on those targets in each of the last three years.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Key Performance Indicators (KPI) apply to the performers list date and local medical committee area of work carried out by Primary Care Support England (PCSE); how often PCSE reported against those KPIs; which targets were reached and how many complaints were received on those targets in each of the last three years.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Key Performance Indicators (KPI) apply to the pensions area of work carried out by Primary Care Support England (PCSE); how often PCSE reported against those KPIs; which targets were reached and how many complaints were received on those targets in each of the last three years.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  which Key Performance Indicators (KPI) apply to the GP payments area of work carried out by Primary Care Support England (PCSE); how often PCSE reported against those KPIs; which targets were reached and how many complaints were received on those targets in each of the last three years.

Steve Brine: Primary Care Support England services are provided by Capita Business Services Ltd under contract with NHS England. The contract contains service standards, including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that specify the agreed measurement and evaluation of performance delivery. The KPIs relating to patient registration, medical records, local performers list, local medical committee, pensions and general practitioner payments are attached. NHS England closely monitors delivery of the services against these performance standards, which are reported by Capita on a monthly basis. However, information relating to targets and complaints is commercially sensitive and therefore we are unable to provide this information.



PQ132815 attached document
(Word Document, 26.4 KB)

Primary Care Support England

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many claims for financial loss have been made against the Primary Care Support England by (a) GPs, (b) local medical committees (c)  dentists and (d) other people for each of the last three years; how many and what proportion of those claims have been settled; what the average time taken was to settle those claims; how much has been paid out in compensation; and which organisation is liable for that compensation.

Steve Brine: Primary Care Support England services are provided by Capita Business Services Ltd under contract with NHS England. NHS England advises that it has received the following claims for financial loss in respect of the services provided by Primary Care Support England: General practitioners67Dentists33Local medical committees0Others314 NHS England takes the matter of addressing claims of financial loss extremely seriously. However, given that the process of considering and deciding on claims is on-going it would be inappropriate to provide information on the duration, compensation rate and number of outstanding settlements at this point.

Primary Care Support England

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what sanctions are available to his Department in the event of Primary Care Support England failing to deliver contracted services.

Steve Brine: The Department does not hold authority over sanctions in relation to this contract. The contract is between NHS England and Capita Business Services Ltd. It is NHS England’s obligation as the contract holder to oversee service standards. NHS England advises that the contract contains a range of remedies to incentivise and address performance. These include the application of financial service credits where agreed levels of performance are not achieved and rectification processes to affect improvement in service performance where this falls below expected levels.

NHS: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS health care services in the Borough of Halton were provided by the private sector in each year since 2012.

Steve Brine: NHS England has advised that there are no health care services provided by the private sector.

Dental Services: Accident and Emergency Departments

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the NHS of delivering emergency dental treatment in hospitals has been in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: This information is not held centrally.

Dental Services: Accident and Emergency Departments

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people presented at NHS Accident and Emergency departments with dental issues in the last 12 months.

Steve Brine: Data has not been collected on the number of unique individuals who have presented at National Health Service accident and emergency (A&E) departments with dental issues in the last 12 months. Information is collected by NHS Digital on the number of A&E attendances in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector requiring dental investigations. The latest available data shows that for 2016/17 there were 18,061 such attendances. It should be noted that 'attendances' is not the same as 'people' as one person may have more than one attendance.

Dental Services: Public Sector

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage NHS dentists to remain in the public sector.

Steve Brine: In the latest year for which data is available 2016/17, 3,847 more dentists worked in the National Health Service than were working in the NHS when the current contract started in 2006/07. NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care dental services. Where a dental practice owner (contractor) chooses to leave the NHS the funding reverts to the NHS and can be reused to commission alternative dental services. The Government is committed to supporting dentists and NHS dental services. The Department is continuing to test, alongside NHS England, a new NHS dental contract. It is our intention to work with the profession to develop a contract that remains attractive to dentists whilst delivering high quality preventative care needed by patients. We expect to publish the evaluation report from the first full year of testing the prototype system shortly.

Rare Diseases: Drugs

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the effect of changes to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence Highly Specialised Technology Programme earlier than three years after their implementation in April 2017.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods and processes used in the development of its guidance, and for keeping its procedures under review. Following consultation with stakeholders, NICE concluded that a three year period would be appropriate to gain sufficient experience of its updated highly specialised technology evaluation methods to enable a robust review.

NHS: Drugs

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to issue guidance to pharmaceutical companies entering into negotiations with the commercial medicines unit, as a result of that unit's move to NHS England.

Steve Brine: NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit (CMU) has not issued any guidance to pharmaceutical companies on entering into negotiations as a result of the Unit’s move to NHS England. Any commercial arrangements entered into by the CMU would be on a basis prescribed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Department did not issue any guidance upon the Commercial Medicines Unit’s move to NHS England and there are no plans to do so.

Sugar: Health Hazards

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve people's awareness of free sugars and associated health risks.

Steve Brine: Public Health England’s social marketing campaign, Change4Life, supports the Government’s sugar reduction agenda. In recent years there have been a number of Change4Life campaigns to encourage families to cut down on sugar, including: Sugar Swaps (2015), Sugar Smart (2016), Be Food Smart (2017) and a healthier snacking campaign in 2018. The Change4Life campaigns support families to reduce sugar by alerting families to the problem that children in England are eating nearly three times the recommended amount of sugar and the associated health harms, highlighting the amounts of sugar in popular drinks, foods and snacks, and informing parents about the recommended daily guidelines for sugar. The campaigns also provide tips and support to help families swap to food and drinks with less sugar. Change4Life also works with partners to provide money-off vouchers and special offers in-store on healthier products.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to address regional variations in access to flash glucose monitoring.

Steve Brine: Reducing variation in the management and care of people with diabetes by 2020 is an objective in the National Health Service mandate. The NHS RightCare diabetes pathway shows the core components of an optimal diabetes service, as well as evidence of the opportunity to reduce variation. Ultimately it is for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), who are primarily responsible for commissioning diabetes services, to meet the requirements of their population. In doing so, CCGs need to ensure that the services they provide are fit for purpose, reflect the needs of the local population, are based on the available evidence and take into account national guidelines. This includes determining whether specific technologies, such as flash glucose monitoring, form part of their service and if it is suitable for individual patients to support the ongoing management of their condition. The Regional Medicines Optimisation Committee North has issued advice on the use of Freestyle Libre to support the CCGs in doing this.

NHS: Subsidiary Companies

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of wholly owned subsidiary companies in the NHS on (a) joined-up care and (b) staff (i) coordination, (ii) retention and (iii) morale.

Stephen Barclay: It is for National Health Service organisations locally to assess the effect of establishing wholly owned subsidiaries. The aim of organisations who have established wholly owned subsidiaries is to support the efficient and effective delivery of healthcare locally while providing value for the taxpayer. In doing so, these organisations would have to engage fully with existing staff transferring to the wholly owned subsidiary, protecting their terms and conditions of service as well as ensuring that any newly recruited staff are offered terms and conditions that attract the skills they need, promote retention and improve morale. The legislation enabling wholly owned subsidiaries companies in the NHS was first passed in 2003 through the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, which came into force on April 1 2004. That power was re-enacted into s46 of the NHS Act 2006, as the 2006 Act consolidated various pre-existing Acts.

Kidney Diseases: Medical Treatments

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that UK citizens who require dialysis in EU member states after the UK leaves the EU will be able to access that treatment free of charge; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: The United Kingdom Government has made clear that it wishes to see the existing reciprocal healthcare arrangements with the European Union continued after the UK leaves the EU. All UK-insured residents, including those who require dialysis, benefit from the reciprocal healthcare arrangements currently in place and the Government is working to ensure this access to healthcare in EU member states continues on the same terms as they do after the UK leaves the European Union. In the meantime, while the UK remains a member of the EU, it will continue to respect the rights and honour the obligations of EU membership and so the current arrangements remain in place.

Sugar: Sales Promotions

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is assessing the potential merits of limiting the availability of high sugar products as part of supermarket price promotions and at the point-of-sale.

Steve Brine: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for West Bromwich East on 8 February 2018 to Questions 126152 and 126153. Public Health England’s first progress report on sugar reduction will be published in the spring.

Department for Exiting the European Union

British Nationality

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with the European Parliament’s negotiating team for the UK leaving the European Union on the legal status of a proposed associate European Union citizenship should the UK leave the EU.

Suella Fernandes: The Secretary of State regularly meets with ministerial counterparts from EU institutions and from other EU Member States. We have always said that we would be content to listen to any proposals from the European Union but this is not a matter that has been raised by others in discussions. Associate citizenship is not currently in the scope of exit negotiations. EU treaty provisions make clear that only citizens of EU Member States are able to hold EU citizenship. Therefore, when the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union, British nationals will no longer hold EU citizenship, unless they hold dual nationality with another EU Member State.

British Nationality

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will take steps to preserve the rights, freedoms and legal protections for UK citizens enshrined in the Maastricht treaty.

Suella Fernandes: EU treaty provisions make clear that only citizens of EU Member States are able to hold EU citizenship. Therefore, when the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union, British nationals will no longer hold EU citizenship, unless they hold dual nationality with another EU Member State. However, we know that in the future, many UK nationals will wish to continue to travel, live and work within the European Union, just as EU citizens will still wish to do so in the UK. We look forward to discussing our future relationship with the European Union, one which will work in the interest of both the UK and the EU.

British Nationality

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what consideration he has made of the effect of Article 70 (1)(b) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties on UK citizens retaining EU citizenship should the UK leave the EU.

Suella Fernandes: EU treaty provisions make clear that only citizens of EU Member States are able to hold EU citizenship. Therefore, when the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union, British nationals will no longer hold EU citizenship, unless they hold dual nationality with another EU Member State. Article 70 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is a default rule, which does not apply where the parties to a treaty agree arrangements relating to a particular party’s withdrawal. The UK and the EU will agree these arrangements under the Article 50 process, to be defined in the Withdrawal Agreement. We know that in the future, many UK nationals will wish to continue to travel, live and work within the European Union, just as EU citizens will still wish to do so in the UK. We look forward to discussing our future relationship with the European Union, one which will work in the interest of both the UK and the EU.

British Nationality

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendations of the report by Professor Volker Roeben, The feasibility of the of associate EU citizenship for UK citizens post-Brexit.

Suella Fernandes: We have carefully considered the recommendations found in the report by Professor Volker Roeben, ‘The feasibility of the associate EU citizenship for UK citizens post-Brexit’. However, our understanding of the EU treaty provisions is that only citizens of EU Member States are able to hold EU citizenship. Therefore, when the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union, British nationals will no longer hold EU citizenship, unless they hold dual nationality with another EU Member State. However, we know that in the future, many UK nationals will wish to continue to travel, live and work within the European Union, just as EU citizens will still wish to do so in the UK. We look forward to discussing our future relationship with the European Union, one which will work in the interest of both the UK and the EU.

Musicians: Free Movement of People

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with the European Union counterparts on the retention of free movement for British musicians working throughout Europe after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Steve Baker: The Secretary of State meets regularly with Ministerial counterparts from other EU Member States and with individuals in the EU institutions to discuss a wide range of policy issues linked to our exit from the EU, including migration and mobility. During the implementation period, EU citizens will be able to come to live and work in the UK as they do now. This will also be the case for UK nationals travelling or working in the EU during this period, including British musicians. No decisions have been made yet on the immigration rules that will apply after the end of the implementation period. The Prime Minister has made it clear that the Government is open to discussing with the EU how to facilitate the valuable links between our people.

Treasury

Bank Services: Interest Rates

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to require banks to inform customers at the expiration of a finance deal the best interest rates available through any bank.

John Glen: The Government is already taking action to ensure customers can get the best deal for banking products: Open Banking will allow customers to take control of their data and use it to find the best deal for themselves with the help of third-parties.Following the recommendation in the Competition and Markets Authority Retail Banking Investigation, the FCA is carrying out work on the most effective prompts and alerts for customers to ensure they engage with their choice of banking products. The government will study closely the work of the FCA in this area, and will consider whether any further action should be taken.

Duty Free Allowances

Andrew Percy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to enable the return of duty free sales to passengers travelling to the EU from the UK after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Mel Stride: The issues around duty-free are complex, with a range of possible approaches. At this stage the government cannot make assumptions about the tax rules at the EU border, or pre-empt the outcome of negotiations.